Angels and Demons
by orgymoogle
Summary: Zack Fair was a good hearted college student, Sephiroth was a psychotic serial killer. Angels and demons are supposed to be enemies, but what if the angel and demon fell into a dark, twisted love? SephyxZack, ZackxCloud, TsengxReno, yaoi, AU.
1. Chapter 1: A Single Black Feather

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own **_**Final Fantasy VII **_**(none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of it's other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.**

**A/N: This, my dear friends, is my first **_**Final Fantasy VII**_** fanfiction--and it's my first one about Zack Fair! Zack is my ultimate favorite character EVAH. I love him! 8D**

**I don't know why I waited so long to start a story with him in it...I guess because it was harder to come up with a story idea for him. -shrugs- BUT, I must say that I really love this one. It's mainly centered around Zack and Sephiroth, but it has some (eventual) ZackxCloud and some TsengxReno on the side. :3**

**I didn't want to copy the title from that movie that came out, "Angels and Demons", but I already had this title picked out! I tried to change it, but it didn't work out. So, whatever. "Angels and Demons" it is. Haha!**

**Warnings: You know, I was never sure if on warnings I should put the warnings for the whole story or for just the chapter I was writing the warning on...usually, I don't even bother with a warning. But, uh, I guess I'll just do the warning for this chapter. Ahem. This chapter contains sexual content, strong language, LEMON, rape, aaaand....yeah. :)**

**....okay, it doesn't really contain any of that. Just some mild language. :) **

**Enjoy!**

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_**Angels and Demons**_

_**- I -**_

_**A Single Black Feather**_

Good and evil are easy to tell apart. It doesn't take long for someone to figure out which is which. Good deeds are usually rewarded respectively, and evil is punished. No good person lets evil go unnoticed. That would be like demons getting away with murder while angels sat back and watched That just doesn't happen.

...But what if the angel had fallen in love with the demon? Now, that, my friend, would be a whole other story. Impossible, you say? True, it doesn't seem possible for someone so pure, with such a good heart and soul, to fall for someone so terribly evil, who thinks nothing of all of the murders he commits and all of the people he drives mad.

Well, in that case, young Zackary Fair had done the impossible. An angel had fallen in love with a demon.

**xxxXxXxxx**

"_Yet another death has occurred in the city of Midgar. When the police found the body, which was in plain sight, they identified the wounds as stabbings. Some thought these were inflicted on the body with a knife or dagger, but upon further examination it was discovered that the stab wounds reached all the way through the body. Investigators think that these wounds were actually done with some sort of katana. In that case, just what kind of killer are we dealing with here? There have been several other reports just like this one, however they have come from many different places--__from Midgar to Junon, this killer seems to be striking everywhere! Police suggest that everyone be very cautious...."_

The voice of the woman on the TV came to an abrupt stop as I sighed and turned off the television set, shaking my head. More terrible news. These serial killings had been going on for about a month, and in just that time ten people had already been killed. They knew that these murders were all being committed by the same person because at every one of these crime scenes a mysterious black feather was left. At first investigators had thought that perhaps the murders were caused by an animal, but the wounds that were left on the corpses couldn't possibly have been done by an animal. Plus, the murders had been committed in several different cities--and it wasn't likely that some rabid, killing animal was traveling from place to place, killing people.

The remote fell to the couch and I headed for my front door, grabbing my navy blue messenger bag on the way. I had already made sure that all of the lights were turned off, and, locking the door behind me, I headed off to work. I reached my work place in short timing, since it was on campus and fairly close to my dorm, and I burst through the front door loudly, making my entrance known to everyone there.

I guess I should take a minute to introduce myself. The name's Zack Fair, or Zackary Fair, but I prefer just "Zack". I was a college student, in my sophomore year, nineteen years old, born in good ol' Gongaga. I worked at a fast food restaurant. It wasn't the nicest job in the world, but it paid okay. Besides, when I had been looking for a job I couldn't find anything else, and I had really needed some fast cash. I knew about a couple of students who got hundreds from prostitution, but there was no way I was going to go for that.

The first thing I noticed upon entering the fast food restaurant I worked at was Cloud Strife, a fellow employee--and not to mention my roommate and best friend--looking rather bored as he stood at the cash register. His spiky blond hair stood out in all different directions, as usual, and his sky blue eyes looked dazed and uninterested.

Now, the only reason Cloud got to work before I did was because he headed there straight from a class...and I usually forgot.

"Heya, Cloud!" I greeted cheerily, raven black bangs that rested on either side of my energetic, sky blue eyes, bouncing lightly as I came to a halt right in front of the cashier counter. Cloud's attention immediately came back to earth and he smiled softly, his big eyes suddenly filled with life that hadn't been there moments ago.

"Hi, Zack," he returned the greeting, and I grinned. Cloud, I observed, was wearing a long-sleeved, black turtle neck and matching pants, which made his pale skin look even whiter. He was a very small boy, and had very delicate features. I, on the other hand, was about a foot taller than him and had more muscle, with brighter features. Standing next to each other, we looked quite different--except for our matching eyes and spiky hair.

"I see business is going pretty slow today, huh?" I asked, slipping behind the counter, where only employees were allowed, and throwing my mandatory apron on. Cloud sighed and turned around to face me, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms.

"Yeah. I wish that we could at least get some homework done while nothing is going on around here." I laughed but frowned moments later, finding myself having difficulty with getting my messenger bag off with my apron already on. I ended up getting myself all tangled up and Cloud sighed again, moving forward to help me. "Here," he said, grabbing hold of part of the apron and somehow undoing the mess I had made. I got my messenger bag off and then put the apron back on the right way, grinning stupidly at Cloud.

"Thanks." We were standing only a couple of inches away from each other, and Cloud, realizing how close we were, blushed and stepped backwards, resuming his place at the counter.

"No problem," Cloud replied, trying his best to sound cool.

Just then, another young man appeared, coming from inside the kitchen. His bright red hair, which had undoubtedly been dyed, was messy and spiked at the top and then turned into a long, straight ponytail. His eyes shone an energetic blue-green, with a rather large hint of mischief in them. Two red tattoos, that looked almost like scars, were beside both of his eyes, and his goggles that seemed to never leave his forehead rested in said place. He smirked as he walked in, shaking his slim hips in a practiced fashion.

"Someone's a little late, aren't they?" came his slick voice as he sauntered over to where we were standing, then stopped and placed one hand on his hip. I shrugged and grinned sheepishly, moving to sit on the counter beside Cloud.

"I guess I got a bit distracted." I took a moment to examine the redhead, who was wearing his skin-tight clothing, as usual, but was missing something else. I grinned. "Still refusing to wear your apron, huh, Reno?" Said man looked down at himself and smirked, then looked back up to meet my gaze.

"I guess you couldn't help but notice, Fair." I rolled my eyes and Cloud started pulling on my sleeve, and when I looked down at him in confusion he was already getting off of the counter.

"A customer!" I hopped off the counter and I saw Reno roll his eyes, crossing his arms in boredom.

"Cuz' we don't get those every friggin' day..." he mumbled, but Cloud didn't seem to hear him, so I ignored it. The first customer of my shift was actually a group, a familiar group, too. The first one I saw was Tifa; a hot, huge-boobed student at our university, who was the same age as Cloud--which was eighteen. Her silky, dark brown hair reached down to her mid-back and she had chocolate brown eyes. She liked Cloud--anyone could tell when those two were together, but I don't think Cloud felt the same way. I think he was a bit intimidated by her--and he had good reason! Tifa specialized in martial arts, and when she got angry she got violent. She could beat the shit out of just about anybody!

Yuffie and Aerith were right beside her, and all three of them were smiling. Yuffie was also the same age as Tifa, and she was one of the few students from Wutai. She had short black hair and dark eyes; however there was nothing dark about her. She was crazy and energetic, and often referred to herself as "the great ninja Yuffie!" But the thing about Yuffie was you had to be really careful around her...she was quite the little thief, and had stolen things from me multiple times. Usually I wouldn't even notice until the end of the day when I was back in my dorm.

Aerith, who was my age, was probably the most mature out of everyone in the university...except for this one guy, Tseng. Aerith was soft and gentle, and the kindest girl I had ever met. Her long, brown hair was kept in a neat, single braid that reached down to her waist, and she had creamy skin and green eyes. Aerith and I actually used to be a couple, but...it didn't last. Luckily, afterwards we were still able to remain friends.

The three girls came up to the counter, Yuffie chatting animatedly and Tifa and Aerith listening--Tifa budding in every once in a while.

"Well hello, ladies! What can we get for ya'?" They giggled and looked up at the menu, Tifa placing one finger on her chin in thought. Once they ordered and their food had been prepared and paid for, they took their seats by a window a little ways away from the cashier counter.

"So, are you guys going to Genesis' party tonight? It's supposed to be pretty amazing." Reno had come over to the counter with us and was leaning his elbows on it, supporting his head with his hands.

"Haha, of course!" I answered, a bright smile on my face.

"I dunno..." Reno and I both looked at Cloud simultaneously, surprised by his answer.

"What? Why wouldn't you?" I asked, furrowing my brow. Cloud shrugged and rubbed his arm nervously.

"Well, Genesis is a senior, and...senior parties are usually more, err..."wild", right?" I snorted at his choice of words and he glared at me. "You know what I mean!"

"Okay, okay!" I laughed, and then grinned at him. "So then...we'll just go together," I suggested, shrugging. Cloud still seemed unsure, and he bit his lip nervously.

"I'm still not sure I wanna go..." I sighed and looked Cloud right in the eye, raising one eyebrow.

"Why not?" Cloud pursed his lips and stared at me for a moment, and then he sighed and looked away.

"Because, everyone's gonna get drunk and end up having sex and...and I don't want to..." Reno started laughing all of a sudden, and Cloud started blushing.

"You're afraid of drunken sex addicts?" I gave Reno a warning look and he backed up with his hands in the air.

"I-I'm not afraid of them! I just don't want to be around them...." Reno pondered this statement, and Cloud's behavior, for a moment and then smirked.

"You're still a virgin, aren't you?" Cloud's whole face flushed red, and I couldn't hold back a small laugh as Reno looked at Cloud disbelievingly and laughed.

"I'm gonna go mop the floors..." Cloud hopped off of the counter and hurried into the back kitchen, and I glared at Reno as he continued to laugh, then I slapped him and hopped off of the counter.

"Nice going!"

"You were laughing, too." Reno retorted, and I rolled my eyes and headed towards the kitchen where Cloud was. "Hey, you're not a virgin, are you?" I stopped mid-step and turned around to look at Reno disbelievingly.

"Pssh, of course not!" I turned back around, catching Reno shrug and turn around to watch the girls out of the corner of my eye, and entered the kitchen. Cloud was standing in front of the smoothie machine, the blush slowly fading from his cheeks. I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked over to him, and when he noticed I had come in he looked away from me and began rubbing his arm again. He did that a lot--like when he was nervous or embarrassed. It was cute.

"...Y'know, you should still go to the party. I mean...I could stay sober, if you want." Cloud looked up at me like he was amused, and after realizing what I had just said, I grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah, right. I would be the one staying sober and making sure that you got home safely." Shoving the thought that Cloud had referred to our dorm as "home" into the back of my mind, I grinned victoriously.

"Great! Then it's settled. You're going to the party with me tonight." Cloud seemed confused and tried to stutter out a response, but I was out of the kitchen before he could refuse again. Reno was still watching the girls, although he didn't actually seem all that interested in them. You see, Reno was kind of like...well, to put it bluntly, he was the college slut. Although, when it came down to it, he was a good guy...I guess. Anyway, my point is, he was always sleeping with a bunch of girls--and sometimes guys, I had heard. But I had never seen him take a real interest in someone before. Well, for as long as I had known him, anyway. Which was ever since I started college, at the age of eighteen. So, only about a year. But it didn't take long to get to know a guy like Reno.

However, at that moment, he looked different somehow. Like he was in his own little world or something. Like he was really thinking about something.

"Hey, Zack," he began, still staring at nothing in particular, "do you think Tseng will be there?" I wasn't expecting this question, and I looked at Reno confusedly.

"Tseng? At a party? Haha! I don't think so, Reno," I laughed, straightening up a bit as another customer came into the restaurant.

See, Tseng was probably the most up-tight, strictly-business, stoic guy I had ever met in my entire life. He hardly ever showed emotion, except if it was mocking, and he never seemed to be in a relationship with anybody. He focused on his education and his work like it was his life--and it kind of was. His grades were always flawless--as was his record. Not a single day missed, not a single class missed, not late for a single class, not a single day of work missed, not ever late for work. He was like...perfect. Sometimes I thought of him as a kind of updated teacher's pet...a gorgeous one, at that. Long, silky, jet black hair, dark, mysterious eyes that seemed to never show emotion, pale skin, a perfect face and body--he was like a god. A Wutaian god. With a little dot on his forehead. No one knew why he had that little dot on his forehead, although we highly doubted that it was some kind of tattoo he had gotten just because. That would be completely out of character. Anywho, girls--and guys--would stop and stare when he walked by, but he never gave them a second glance. He didn't share a dorm room with anybody--in fact, I don't think he lived on campus. I wasn't sure exactly where he worked, or how old he was...but I think he was in his junior or senior year of college.

Anyway, Reno seemed to ponder my response for a moment and then he hoisted himself up off the counter, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." There was an odd look on his face as he left the front counter to join Cloud in the kitchen, one that I hadn't seen on his face before, and I furrowed my brow.

"Reno?" But as he vanished into the kitchen the customer came up to the counter and I put on a bright smile for him, obediently taking his order and telling him that it would be ready momentarily, then calling back to my fellow employees in the kitchen and passing the order on to them.

It was around lunch time, so our small fast food restaurant, which was named Coal Dust, by the way--God knows why they picked that name for it--, was becoming more busy. Once Reno, Cloud, and I's shifts were over--we all conveniently got out of work at the same time--we all headed out, not exactly sure where we were going. It was starting to get dark, but Genesis's party didn't start for another couple of hours.

"So, what do ya'll wanna do until the party starts?" Reno glanced to a group of girls to his right, who were looking over at us and giggling and whispering to each other.

"I guess I could find a date." I nodded and then looked at Cloud.

"What're you gonna do?" The spiky haired boy shrugged and just as I was about to say something, something caught both Reno and Cloud's attention, and I followed their gaze to a growing crowd of college students, circling around something. "What's going on over there?" I asked no one in particular, furrowing my brow worriedly when we heard police asking people to stay back. We couldn't see what they were gathering around, but as Reno headed over to them Cloud and I followed. We stood right outside of the crowd for a moment, and then Reno somehow spotted Rude, his roommate, and he abandoned Cloud and I and joined Rude in trying to break through the crowd.

Reno and Rude were pretty close, to my understanding. Rude was a really tall, buffed, black, bald guy, who always wore sunglasses and seemed to be angry. Shortly after meeting him I learned from Reno that he wasn't really angry all the time, his face had just supposedly "frozen" like that. I also learned that no one had ever seen Rude without his sunglasses on, not even Reno--although he had tried many times. Although Rude was usually like a quiet, brick wall, he did joke around and lighten up sometimes around Reno. I think he was about a year older than Reno...and about a foot taller than him, too. Next to Rude, Reno looked like a starved child!

Abruptly, I began pushing past other students in an attempt to get in the front of the crowd. Cloud gasped quietly and grabbed onto my sleeve, being dragged along with me through the crowd. When we reached the front I couldn't believe what I saw.

Although the police did their best to try and hide it, there was a dead body lying on the ground. From what I could see it was very gruesome, and for that very reason I couldn't seem to tear my gaze away from it. I heard the police trying to get all of the students to get away and stop crowding and let the ambulance through, although I didn't hear any ambulance, but most of the students didn't seem to be listening.

I suddenly remembered Cloud next to me, and when I turned and looked at him he looked like he was about to throw up. I grabbed onto his shoulders and turned him away from the bloody corpse, trying to find a way out of the crowd that we had tried so hard to get into. I found a small opening and just before we passed through it I noticed something else about the apparent crime scene. Something other than the skewered body or the blood stains on the cement. There was a single black feather. Not a simple crow feather, a large, soft-looking feather. Like an angel's.

My heart must have skipped a beat. In all of those murders on the news, at the crime scene there had been left a single black feather, just like the one before my eyes right then.

Bu when had this murder happened? And why hadn't anyone seen it? The body was not in a deserted alleyway or anything--it was in the middle of a college campus, in a public area. But there lay the black feather, seemingly unnoticed by almost everyone at that time. And that meant that the serial killer had been on campus...which meant he or she could still be on campus as we stood amongst the crowd of gathered college students....

I got Cloud out of the crowd in about a minute, and it seemed that I was just in time, too, because almost immediately after we had escaped the rabid group of humans, he puked in a bush. Once he was done I patted his back and pulled some tissue out of my messenger bag, handing it to him and asking him if he was alright. He nodded and once he was done with the tissue he threw it in a nearby trash can. Then, looking a bit embarrassed, thanked me.

Well, apparently Cloud didn't have a very strong stomach.

We traveled away from the crowd and to our dorm, then up to the second story, where our room was. Once we got in and shut and locked the door behind us, Cloud flopped down on the couch, still looking a bit queasy. I headed for the kitchen to get him a glass of water, silently wondering if coming back to our dorm all alone was such a good idea. No doubt everyone would be making a big deal about this murder, and lots of students, I'm sure, would be leaving campus.

I brought a cup of water over to the couch where Cloud was sitting and, after handing it to him, I took a seat next to him. He took a few sips and thanked me again, and I smiled. "Are you feeling any better?" He nodded and stared at the glass in his hands.

"I just wasn't expecting...that." I nodded my agreement. "What do you think happened?" I shook my head, brow furrowed and eyes concentrated on the small coffee table in front of us.

"I don't know..."

You could hear police sirens in the distance, and some students outside of our dorm room, standing in the halls, were gossiping about the incident that had happened. The sirens got louder and I stood and walked to the window in the living room of our dorm room. When I looked out I saw an ambulance, along with some police cars, driving by.

Since our room was on the second floor of the dorm, I could see over to where the body had been. There was yellow tape surrounding it, and police were still there. I guess they were trying to figure out things. The crowd had, for the most part, dispersed, although there were still some smaller groups hanging around that area. I assumed Genesis's party was canceled, and I wondered if the police were going to have everyone go home for a while. I quickly dismissed that thought, however--I mean, surely they wouldn't close down the whole college? My mind quickly went back to the black feather that had been left at the crime scene, and I bit my lip nervously. What if the murderer was going to strike at our college again? I sighed and walked away from the window, sitting back down on the couch next to Cloud. We both sat in silence for a while as the police sirens slowly started fading, until we couldn't hear them at all.

It was pretty dark outside now, and I could still see the blue, red and white police lights flashing on our window. I finally sighed and stood up, heading towards the door of our dorm room. "I'm gonna go get something to eat. You want anything?" Cloud grimaced at the thought of food, and I laughed, which was the first thing to break the tense aura that had been growing around us ever since we saw the dead body. "Alright, I get it." I was about to exit the room before I had a second thought. Should I really leave Cloud alone? What if the killer really _was_ still on campus? It's not like Cloud could protect himself, especially if that other guy hadn't...I mean, after all, Cloud wasn't the strongest little dude ever.

I bit my lip and turned back around to face him, trying to look as not-worried as possible. I couldn't tell by the look on his face if I was doing a good job or not, but I think he was mainly wondering why I hadn't left yet. It took me a few moments to find the right words--I mean, I didn't want to offend him by assuming he couldn't defend himself, and I didn't want to worry him, either--, but I was finally able to piece a sentence together.

"Are...are you sure you don't wanna come?" Cloud seemed confused, and he nodded slowly. I sighed, scratching the back of my neck and placing one hand on my hip. "Y'know...we could, like...play some video games or something, while we're down there." I was referring to the main room in the downstairs dorm, where lots of people just hung out and played video games. Cloud raised one brow.

"We could just play video games in here." I glared at the PS2 that was hooked up to our T.V., at the same time trying to come up with another reason why Cloud should go downstairs with me. Luckily, I didn't have to, because he seemed to catch on and stood up, slowly making his way towards me. "You know...there actually is this new game I've been wanting to try out on the PS3 they have downstairs..."

I smiled, turned around and opened the door, then walked out, Cloud following close behind me.

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**A/N: You have no idea how many times I wanted to bring **_**Kingdom Hearts**_** characters into this. xD**

**Anywho, personally I thought the ending was kind of sudden, but...I wasn't sure how else to end it. Plus, I didn't want to end another chapter to one of my stories with them going to sleep. Haha!**

**Welp, I hope you liked it! I had a lot of fun writing this, and I can't wait to write more. I hope everyone was in-character enough...oh, and by the way, I have no intention of making Cloud preppy. Why? Because; CLOUD IS NOT PREPPY. :)**

**Okay everyone, with my fanfictions I always get a bunch of favorites and alerts, and don't get me wrong, I LOVE those, and I thank you for them! But...reviews are even better. :)**

**Thanks for reading, I'll try to post more soon! Oh, and apparently my beta fish has changed her username, so...thanks to **_**The Fifteenth Organizer**_** for beta reading!**

**~orgymoogle **

(betafish says a lot, this time around, deal with it. first of all, it's pretty much officially confirmed that Reno's gay, moogle-san, so if you plan on changing some bits (J), edit this sentence out. and when I saw the restaurant name, I laughed out loud, even at 4 a.m. thank you for putting that in. Great Mouse Detective AND TsengxReno forevs.)

(orgymoogle says I know Reno's gay, but I figured he has some female interest, as well...thus making him bi? Haha! Yeah, Basil said "coal dust!" just as I was trying to figure out a restaurant name, so I figured, "oh, what the heck?". xD And yes, TsengxReno and "The Great Mouse Detective" pretty much rule the world. :D

P.S. An explanation to my readers: beta fish and I were watching "The Great Mouse Detective" while I was writing some of this.)


	2. Chapter 2: Close Encounter

**Disclaimer: I, orgymoogle, do not own **_**Final Fantasy VII**_** (none of em'!) or any of the characters or creatures in it. Nor do I own the plots, storylines, or any of its other geniusness. I am merely an obsessed fangirl writing a fanfiction.**

**A/N: Gosh ya'll, I'm so sorry this took so long to get up! I've had the almost-finished chapter on our laptop forever, but I never just sat myself down to finish it. Plus I've been role playing a lot lately...heheh, sorry! But here it is! Not too proud of this chapter, not too ashamed of it. I wrote the end of it at like...5:00 a.m. and I was pretty tired, so...yeah. It's o-kay, in my opinion. xD**

**Thanks for all of the alerts, favorites and reviews! And thank you for being so patient! I'll try to update more often! Read and enjoy. ^_^**

**/`.../`.../`.../`  
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_**Angels and Demons**_

_**- II -**_

_**Close Encounter**_

"Zackary, are you even listening to me?" I raised my eyes to see my frustrated English teacher staring me down, an annoyed scowl on his face. I grinned sheepishly and sunk in my seat slightly. He sighed and closed the book he was holding in his hands, then came around to stand at the front of his desk. "If you don't pay attention you won't pass the class," he said sternly, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Sorry," I replied, scratching the back of my neck. He sighed and stood up straight, continuing his lesson and keeping an eye on me to make sure I was paying attention. To tell the truth I wasn't sure what I had been doing to give myself away. I hadn't been sleeping...maybe he'd asked me something? Ah, well. I couldn't get my mind off of what had happened the other day.

They weren't closing the university, oddly enough. Everything seemed normal, for the most part. Of course, students were gossiping. Everywhere I went I heard students whispering to one another about the previous day's event. It had been a pretty gruesome seem, after all. Luckily the body had been covered before I'd gotten a chance to see it. I definitely wouldn't have been able to get that out of my mind. And I couldn't forget about that feather, either. I'm not sure if anyone else had noticed it yet. I'm sure they had, but I hadn't heard anything about it. Maybe it was just a coincidence? But...in all those other murders...there had been one black feather left with the body.

I saw a camera crew on campus the other day...maybe they got it on tape. I hadn't seen them on the news yet, though. Not that I'd really gotten a chance to watch the news since then. Or...maybe they weren't going to say anything about it? Maybe they didn't want people to stop going to the college. But they couldn't really hide the murder from everyone, could they?

I wasn't paying attention to the class at all. I almost forgot they were there. I'm sure they wouldn't hide it...nah, they couldn't. I took a moment to glance up at the teacher so that it at least _seemed_ like I was paying attention. He was eying me, but when I made eye contact with him he seemed satisfied and turned to the rest of the class.

Eventually I heard the sharp ring of the bell and the rest of the students around me stood and gathered their things quickly. I was still deep in thought as I stood and stuffed my books and note paper--which didn't have any notes from the class on it--and headed for the door. The teacher was still preparing to leave, too.

"I can't wait to see your homework, Zackary." I grinned in small confidence and adjusted the strap of my messenger bag on my shoulder.

"And, uh, what _exactly_ is my homework, again?" The teacher rolled his eyes and went back to his papers, exiting the classroom and leaving me there alone. I sighed and hung my head for a moment, then exited and tried to find one of my classmates to ask what our homework was. When I spotted one, Kunsel, I jogged to catch up with him and slapped my hand down on his shoulder. "Hey, buddy!" I greeted.

"Hey, Zack," he said, smiling. "What's up?"

"Well, actually, I need to know what our homework is." He chuckled and shook his head.

"Having problems paying attention, huh?" I shrugged helplessly.

"Eh, what can I say...I've got a lot on my mind." He gave me an incredulous look and I furrowed my brow in confusion. "What?"

"YOU have a lot on your mind?"

"Hey!" I punched him on the arm playfully and he laughed.

"Alright, alright. Here," he said, handing me some pieces of loose paper. I took them and glanced over them briefly, then looked back up at him.

"What are they?"

"I wrote down our homework, and also took notes. You'll definitely need those." He chuckled again and I grinned.

"Thanks, man." I patted him on the back and stopped to walk the opposite direction down the hall. "Seeya later!"

"Seeya!" He waved me off and I headed down the hallway, passing several people I knew and giving them brief "hello"s.

I didn't have class for another hour or so, so I decided to go find someone to hang out with until then. I started my search outside of the main college building. I wanted to find Cloud, and he was probably outside somewhere. He liked peaceful places where he couldn't be bugged by people--preferably outside. He tried to come off as a loner, but I knew he liked having friends.

I strolled to the park very casually and, not to my surprise but to my delight, I saw Cloud sitting on the grass near a fountain. His headphones to his iPod were in his ears and he really seemed to be concentrating on whatever it was that he was drawing in his sketchbook. He loved drawing, and he was pretty good at it, too. I'd seen a couple pictures of me that he'd drawn, and they were 100% accurate. I was amazed every time I saw one of his drawings.

Anyway, since he was plugged in and concentrating, it would be really easy for me to sneak up on me. I was going to, but then I thought twice about it--something I'd only learned how to do recently. He was drawing, and I didn't want to make him jump and mess up the whole picture. Then he would get sad...or mad, and then he wouldn't talk to me. We couldn't have that, now could we?

So, instead of scaring the unsuspecting boy, I plopped down next to him with a huge grin on my face. "Heya, Cloudy!" I said loud enough so that he could hear me over his music. He looked up at me and quickly hid whatever it was that he was drawing.

"Z-Zack!" he stuttered, obviously surprised. I laughed.

"Whatcha drawin'?"

"Uh, nothing," he replied quickly, closing his sketchbook. I frowned.

"Why don't you want me to see?"

"Because...it's not finished yet!" I smirked cockily and he stared at me warily.

"Is it a picture of me?" He blushed lightly, and I knew I'd scored. "C'mon, lemme see!" I tried to grab the sketchbook from him, but he moved it away just in time.

"No!"

"Haha! What, did you draw me naked or something?" Cloud's whole face flushed when I said this, and my eyebrows shot up in surprise, an amused grin spreading across my face. "Oh?"

I often teased Cloud like this. His reactions were hilarious! Of course, I never let it get too far.

"S-shut up, Zack!" Cloud stood abruptly but I was already one step ahead of him. I tried to grab the book and this time I was successful in getting my hands on it, but Cloud wouldn't let go. "Let go, Zack! I don't want you to see it!" But the sketchbook slipped from his grasp and was now in my control. Cloud looked horrified and shocked, and desperately tried to grab it back. I laughed and began running away. "Zack!"

He chased after me and almost tackled me to the ground a couple of times. He was faster than I thought! Especially for such a short guy. He finally succeeded in doing so, however. Luckily it was on grass, in the park, so my face didn't get too badly punished for stealing Cloud's secret sketchbook. I laughed as I fell to the ground and Cloud fell on top of me. Cloud, however, was determined to get his book back, and grabbed it from me before I had a chance to defend myself. He was sitting on my back and he hit my head with the sketchbook.

"Jerk!" I just laughed as Cloud fumed, and he blushed. "It's not funny!" I made myself stop laughing.

"You're right, I'm sorry," I said, but I was grinning like an idiot the whole time, so I don't think he believed me.

He glared at me and I snickered. He rolled his eyes and got off of me, standing beside me instead of running away. He held his sketchbook very close to his chest, as tightly as he possibly could, it seemed. I didn't stand up; instead I rolled over so that I was laying on my back and looking up at Cloud more comfortably.

"Is that really what you were drawing?" I asked, supporting the back of my head with my hands. He rolled his eyes again and began walking off. I laughed and stood up, following after him. When I caught up with him so that we were walking side-by-side, I straightened my shirt and adjusted my messenger bag. "Where are you headed?"

"Well, I _was_ having a nice time in the park until you came along," Cloud spat, and I pretended to wince.

"We can go back, if you want...I promise I won't try to steal your sketchbook again," I chuckled, and he eyed me suspiciously.

"Okay, I guess."

We walked back to the park, chatting idly to one another about topics such as school and work, though I quickly changed it to something else. Those were probably my least two favorite subjects. We got back to Cloud's spot in the park and he sat down. I laid beside him in the grass, supporting my head with my hands.

"Yeah, okay, I'll see you later!" I waved to Reno with a big grin on my face as he left the building. It was closed now, and we were leaving work. Cloud and I were the only ones left in the building. The blonde was hurriedly gathering all of his stuff together. I watched him curiously, slipping on my messenger bag. He frowned and looked through his bag a bit more frantically. "Somethin' wrong, Cloudy?" I asked, walking to stand beside him.

"I can't find it..." he murmured worriedly, pulling things out of his bag and then checking his pockets.

"Find what? Your wallet? Phone?"

"No, my MP3 Player..." He stopped searching and thought for a moment, staring distantly into space as if he were in another place entirely, at another time, when suddenly he popped back into reality and turned his head to glare at me. My eyebrows shot up in surprise but before I could say anything he beat me to it. "You," was all he said, pointing an accusing finger at me. I placed both of my hands on my chest, gesturing to myself in confusion.

"What'd I do?"

"You made me lose my MP3 Player!" Cloud snapped, and I tilted my head.

"I did...?"

"I had it in the park earlier, but then you stole my sketchbook and I must have lost it..." Cloud glanced nervously up at a clock hung on the wall and then began stuffing everything back into his bag. "You have to go find it," he demanded. I looked at him incredulously.

"Why me?"

"Because you're the one who made me lose it! Besides, I have to go to a class meeting, and I'm gonna be late if I don't leave now," the blondie quickly explained, grabbing his bag and heading for the door. I followed him and we exited the building.

"But...its so dark out," I whined, taking note of how quickly the day had turned to night. The sky was really dark, but the moon was almost full and was shining pretty brightly.

"That's just too bad," Cloud replied bluntly, giving me a short glare before heading off in a different direction at a hurried pace. "You better find it, Zack!" he called before disappearing into the shadows.

I sighed and scratched the back of my neck. Well, great. _Guess I better get it over with now..._

I reached the park about twenty minutes later, taking my time. It was nice out, even though it was so dark. The air was crisp and fresh--well, as fresh as it could be on a college campus. When I got there, however, I wasn't sure where to start looking for Cloud's missing device. We'd ran around a good portion of the park earlier that day, so it could be practically anywhere. I silently thanked the moon for shining so brightly; at least it would be easier to see that way. I began my search and about ten minutes into it I began feeling...weird. Not myself, really, but something felt off. Fear rose inside of me and I looked around cautiously. I felt like someone was..._watching_ me. My thoughts suddenly raced back to the murder that had taken place on that very campus the night before, and I froze. I gulped, trying to shake the feeling off but it wouldn't work.

"C'mon, Zack...whoever it was is probably long gone by now," I tried to convince myself, but a shaky voice isn't very convincing.

"No, I'm still here."

I froze completely when I heard a dark, sinister, smooth voice come from somewhere behind me. It only took me a few moments, however, to turn around quickly to face whoever it was who had spoken. I couldn't see anyone at first, and my eyes desperately searched the darkness for a face. I couldn't see any sign of a human being, but I knew I wasn't hearing things. I began to panic, my eyes darting back and forth quickly, looking for some sort of life form.

"Umm...hello?" I asked, brow furrowed worriedly.

"Hello, Zackary."

My eyes shot open wide when whoever it was said my name and a tall figure slowly stepped out from the gathering of the trees. It was very clear to me now that it was in fact a human man--or so it seemed--, with very toned muscles and long, flowy, silver hair. This surprised me nearly as much as the man showing up in the first place, but these thoughts quickly dissolved as my full attention turned back to the incredibly tall male before me.

"Wh-who are you?" It was hard for me to talk. There was a huge lump forming in my throat and I couldn't swallow it. His narrowed, aquamarine eyes flashed with something completely and utterly sinister and his sadistic smirk grew as he took another step towards me. I wanted to move back, but I couldn't. I could hardly feel my legs. I wasn't sure how I was even standing.

"Oh, you haven't heard of me yet? Well, let me give you a proper introduction." Before I knew what was happening, he was right in front of me. Hardly an inch separated us, and his face was right next to mine. My breath hitched and I began to shake. I could feel his breath on my neck, and soon his hot breath was on my ear. "I'm the infamous murderer who's been going around. You know, the one with the feathers." He snickered mockingly at the end of his sentence, as if the word going around about him was ridiculous.

My mind was rushing. I couldn't think straight at all. How the hell did I end up face-to-face with a mass murderer? Fear overcame me. That's all I could think about. Was he going to kill me? I didn't want to die! I was too young to die!

I gasped when I felt his lips against my neck. I could feel the smirk still gracing his lips and soon I felt his teeth brushing against my neck. "Wh-what are you doing?!" I asked in a panic, my heart racing unbelievably fast.

"Mmm...it's a shame," he moaned, bringing one hand up to my back and biting down on the skin on my neck, "you're an awfully cute one." I gasped again, louder this time, and shuddered, the overwhelming fear and shock causing my knees to buckle. I fell into him but he kept me up easily. It was then I realized just how strong he really was, as he held me up easily with one arm and bit down once again on the tender skin of my neck, then slid his hand down my back and then into my pants.

"S-stop!" I'd meant it to come out as a harsh demand, but it sounded like more of a mixture between a gasp and a whimper. This only seemed to edge him on, as he pressed his body closer to mine and began trailing kisses down my neck. "Wha--!" He suddenly pushed me away very roughly, causing me to fall onto my butt in surprise. Just as quickly as he'd appeared, he disappeared, leaving me all alone. Or at least, I thought I was all alone.

"Zack?" I heard a familiar voice call from behind me, but I couldn't turn around to face him. My head felt like it was going to explode. What the hell had just happened? I tried to remember why in the world I was at the park that late anyway, and I remembered that I was originally looking for Cloud's missing MP3 Player when that man...the freaking _murderer_ had come out of nowhere and started _groping_ me! "Zack...?" I suddenly became aware of the man behind me and his hand on my shoulder, and I whipped my head around to see him. Blue-green eyes stared at me worriedly, red hair falling in front of them--because, oddly enough, he wasn't wearing his goggles.

"Uhh..." was the intelligent reply I offered him.

"Oi, you okay, man?" he asked, and the look on his face made me wonder what I looked like sitting there on the park ground, looking like a dumbfounded puppy.

"Y-yeah," I answered hurriedly, trying to stand up with shaky legs. I was wobbling uncontrollably and Reno helped me stand by grabbing my arm and pulling me up straight.

"Dude, you look like you just saw a ghost or something." My face went pale when I heard his freakishly ironic joke, and he seemed to notice. "Uhh...why are you out here right now, anyway?"

"I, uh...umm," I stuttered, trying to gather my thoughts as I automatically began walking in the general direction of my dorm--at least, I think it was. "I was looking for...Cloud's, um..." Reno grabbed my arm to stop me from walking any further, and when I tried to lose his grip on me it tightened.

"You were looking for Cloud?" the redhead asked, brow furrowed. "Why would Cloud be out here this late at night?"

"No, I was looking for..." I never finished that thought, though, because my mind decided it was more important to focus on getting out of the park. "We--we need to get out of here," I said quickly, grabbing onto his thin wrist and nearly dragging him out of the park in my haste to get back to my dorm.

"Zack--what's wrong with you? Would you slow down for a second?" Reno tried to stop me but I wouldn't let him. I was much stronger than him so I had no problem dragging along his skinny little ass. "Zack, come on! What's going on?" Eventually he gave up asking me questions and let me take him all the way to my dorm room. Once inside, I shut the door and locked it. Then a thought came to me.

"Where's Cloud?" I asked, worry rising in my voice again. Reno shrugged, raising one brow at me.

"I don't know...care to explain why you're freaking out?" I bit my lip and paced around the room once, trying to decide whether or not to go look for Cloud or not. I was worried about him and I definitely didn't trust him walking around campus alone--after all, I'd almost gotten killed by some psychopath moments earlier!

"Reno, I saw him," I said, grabbing him by his shoulders.

"Saw who...?"

"I saw the murderer!" Reno gave me a disbelieving look. "I did! I'm not kidding!" I said seriously, my grip on his shoulders tightening. I could see the slight pain in his face from me doing so, but didn't dwell on that for long. "He was _this_ close to me, Reno!" I exclaimed, showing him just how close the silver-haired man was.

"Um, Zack, are you sure you saw the murderer?"

"Of course I am! Why the hell would I joke about that?!"

"I can think of a couple reasons why...look, man, you need to calm down," Reno said, leading me to the small couch in my dorm. He sat me down and I let him, not bothering to look up at him when he sat next to me. "Woah, Zack, what have YOU been up to?" Reno asked me, chuckling, and I was confused until I looked up and noticed he was pointing to my neck. I raised my hand to said area and then got up to look in a mirror, groaning when I saw the reflection of a hickey on my neck. "Who did that?" Reno was still snickering and I glared flatly at him.

"HE did this! The killer!"

"HAH! Yeah, right!"

I was going to reply when suddenly we heard footsteps coming down the hall. I began to panic for a second, the fear and realization of what had happened to me not too long before still soaking in, but then I realized it was only Cloud when I heard him muttering to himself as he unlocked the door. My hand still rested on my neck and I gasped and dashed into our bedroom when I realized that Cloud would see it. Reno stood out in the middle of our living room, obviously confused, when Cloud came in our dorm room. I couldn't see them but I heard the door open and I could hear muffled voices. I threw off my messenger bag and pulled off my short sleeved shirt and jeans, quickly changing into some long sleeved pajamas with a collar that I could pull up to cover my neck. My fingers were shaking as I buttoned up the shirt and raced back into the living room at an abnormal speed.

"H-h-hey, Cloudy!" I chirped, a big, fake grin on my face as I tried to look normal. Both Reno and Cloud were giving me weird looks.

"Um, hey, Zack. Did you find my MP3 Player?" Cloud asked very straight-forwardly. My face fell and I scratched my neck sheepishly, quickly being reminded of the hickey that was there and letting my hand fall limp to my side instead.

"Umm...no." When I answered, Cloud looked pissed and he crossed his arms, raising one disapproving brow. I hated it when Cloud glared at me like that. It was scary. "I looked for it for a long time, but it was really late and cold a-and--"

"Zack...you're buying me a new one," Cloud said flatly and then sighed, walking over to me and dumping off his bag on one of the chairs on the way. I sighed and slumped my shoulders.

"Sounds fair enough," I murmured, surprised when Cloud came to stand in front of me.

"You have all your buttons buttoned wrong, doofus," he said, shaking his head disapprovingly but smiling at the same time. He unbuttoned them all and blushed when my shirt was open. He nearly pulled his hands away, but I guess he figured he should finish what he had started so he buttoned my shirt up all the way. I smiled warmly at him as he did so, amused at how easily he could be embarrassed. We'd known each other for years and had been room mates ever since we both started going to the same college, and he was still embarrassed to see me naked. He was a strange little dude. I had to keep my hand up at my neck to keep Cloud from seeing anything he shouldn't, and somehow I did without getting him suspicious.

We heard a loud snort and both of us turned our heads to look at Reno, who was looking at us in amusement with his hands on his hips. "I guess I'll leave you two love birds alone," he said, that mocking tone still dripping from his voice. "G'night!"

I grinned while Cloud blushed some more, trying to hide it by glaring at Reno. "Goodnight!" I replied, waving as he shut the door. Once it was shut, though, I was reminded of my close encounter with the mass murderer and I moved quickly to lock the door. I heard Cloud sigh and turned to see him walking into our bedroom.

"I'm beat. I'm gonna go ahead and hit the hay." I smiled fondly at Cloud's use of country boy terms and nodded.

"Kay. G'night, Cloudy!"

Cloud grumbled something and then went into our room, shutting the door behind him. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, flopping down onto the couch. I still could hardly believe what had happened that day. Or night, rather. It left me with an uneasy feeling and I frowned just thinking about it. I shook my head and turned off all of the lights, made sure everything was locked up and then followed Cloud into our bedroom.

/`.../`.../`.../`

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a review, cuz' it really does give me more inspiration to write! I'll try to get the next chapter up relatively soon, but remember that I have about two or three other stories going right now plus I'm working on other stuff!**

**P.S. I went to see Iron Man 2 at midnight with some friends on Thursday night, and it was AWESOME! I love Rubber Ducky. x3**

**-orgymoogle**


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